New Policy Issued to Boost Investment in IT

To attract investment in information technology, the state government has revised its old policy and issued a new IT, ITeS and ESDM Investment Promotion Policy 2016. Capital investment and interest subsidies, which until now were given only to small and medium units investing up to Rs 10 crore, will now also be given to units investing more than Rs 10 crore.

The VAT/CST exemption limit in the policy is higher than in other states. Electronics units can now get land at concessional rates even outside IT parks or EMCs, from the Industrial Centre Development Corporation, the MSME department, urban local bodies and development authorities. There is also a provision to give private developers land at concessional rates to develop electronics industrial areas.

IT parks

IT parks are operating at Pardeshipura in Indore and in Gwalior. In the first phase of the Sinhasa IT Park in Indore, the Badwai IT Park in Bhopal and the IT park at Purwa in Jabalpur, 75 per cent of the basic infrastructure has been built. Land has been allotted to 14 units in Indore, 25 in Bhopal and 4 in Jabalpur. The process of setting up an IT park in Sagar is under way.

Electronics manufacturing clusters

Setting up Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) is a priority for the state government, and in line with its policy EMCs are being established in the state's major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country where the Government of India has approved EMCs at two places at once - Bhopal and Jabalpur.

Basic infrastructure for these clusters in Bhopal and Jabalpur is being built. A separate company, Bhopal Electronics Manufacturing Cluster Park Limited, has been formed to run the project smoothly. Land has been allotted to five units in the cluster, and development work is in progress. The electronics manufacturing clusters will create 50,000 jobs.

State Wide Area Network (SWAN)

The State Wide Area Network plays an important role in making daily work in government offices faster, easier and more transparent through computerised systems, for the convenience of citizens. Under the project, blocks/tehsils are linked to districts, districts to divisions and divisions to the capital through a high-speed data network. With the support of the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology, 400 Points of Presence (POP) are being set up in Madhya Pradesh; 380 are already in place and work on the remaining 20 is in progress. SWAN now connects 10,000 users in the offices of 51 state departments. Because of its importance for government work, back-up arrangements have also been made so that the network runs without interruption.

State Resident Data Hub (SRDH)

The State Resident Data Hub infrastructure is being developed to keep a central database of the state's residents, analyse it and use it for better planning. The SRDH, the basic infrastructure for a common data repository, is complete. By June 2015, data on 3.06 crore residents had been received from UIDAI. By 31 August 2016, 85 per cent of residents had enrolled for Aadhaar, and work is on to reach 100 per cent by December 2016.

State Data Centre

A State Data Centre has been set up in Bhopal so that the digital records of all state departments and agencies can be stored safely and shared round the clock (365 days x 24 hours). Departments therefore do not need to build their own separate data centres. Data is kept securely and can be accessed quickly, at lower cost and with greater security. The centre has been running since December 2012 and currently hosts 314 applications of various departments.

E-tendering

To make government tenders transparent and easy, an e-tendering system has been in use in the state since 2006 for tenders issued by government offices.

An e-Procurement Portal is run for all government departments and institutions, and all departmental tenders are issued online. Last financial year, 54,847 tenders worth Rs 61,000 crore were issued through the system. Earnest money deposits and tender-document fees are paid by e-payment.

MP Online portal and citizen service centres

Through 21,553 MP Online kiosks, 450 services of various state departments are currently being delivered online to citizens, quickly and transparently, at a convenient place near them.

Virtual classroom project

To bring teaching by top subject experts to the block level through video conferencing, smart classrooms are working at all 413 identified centres in the state, for both school and college classes. More than 2,000 lectures have been broadcast so far, benefiting over 40 lakh students.

Geographical Information System (GIS)

The Madhya Pradesh State Spatial Data Infrastructure (MPSSDI) project is being implemented to develop GIS-based decision support systems. By sharing the required satellite images with all users, the state saved more than Rs 23 crore in the past year. Work is under way on a single repository of GIS data for all departments. Integrated GIS data for khasra (land record) maps is 94 per cent complete, and GIS maps of the remaining villages are being prepared.

Maps of existing urban and forest boundaries have been compiled, and GIS maps of the remaining urban bodies are being prepared. GIS data from the forest, school education and urban administration and development departments has been stored in the single repository. Web services have been built and made available on the portal so that users can use the data held in Map-IT directly in their own web or desktop applications.

IT training centres

To make Madhya Pradesh a digital state, the e-Daksh programme is training every government officer and employee to work smoothly on computerised systems. An IT training centre, the 'e-Daksh Kendra', has been set up at every district headquarters. More than 85,000 officers and employees have been trained in computers, IT and e-governance so far, and over 5 lakh employees will be IT-skilled in the next five years.

Project Management Unit

A Project Monitoring Group (PMG) has been formed to ensure that projects across departments are delivered within budget and on time so that citizens benefit promptly, and to set up an institutional system for monitoring, policy-making and project management. Project management units work under it.

Computer Proficiency Certification Test (CPCT)

Candidates for contract and regular posts such as data entry operator, IT operator, assistant grade-3, stenographer, steno-typist and other clerical posts in state departments, institutions and offices are selected for computer work through the Computer Proficiency Certification Test (CPCT). Two tests have been held so far.

Key achievements in the two years since GIS-2014

Fifteen units have been set up with a capital investment of Rs 6,058.34 crore, giving direct jobs to about 10,000 people and indirect jobs to about 96,700. Major units include Reliance Jio, RuralSource and Om Optel.

Proposals from 33 units are under active consideration, with an expected investment of Rs 6,319.64 crore and jobs for 16,196 people.

SEZ units of Infosys and TCS are under construction, bringing an investment of Rs 1,010 crore and jobs for 23,000 people.

Micromax has been allotted land at Pithampur to make mobile phones, and Forstar has been allotted built-up space in the Gwalior IT park.

Ninety-four units have benefited from the IT Investment Policy and the BPO/BPM Policy.